Single Feature Dependency (Including AI)

One feature is unlikely to separate a product from the competition, drive value for users, or build a long-term sustainable business around it.

Singular feature dependency isn’t new, but it seems to be becoming more common again, especially in highly competitive spaces. In these spaces, it can be incredibly challenging to differentiate, and product teams end up relying too much on one differentiating feature. The one differentiating feature becomes the entire bet for the product and the company, and bets like these rarely pay off.

Here’s why:

• Moat: One feature doesn’t typically create any defensibility. Competitors can easily copy it.
• Example: Reels in social media products are now commonplace. Once they caught on, every product added the capability, and users now post the same video across many channels.
• Value: Customers are not likely to be overwhelmed with value from one feature.
• Example: Dating apps attempt to differentiate themselves by one unique feature. Bumble, for example, has women initiating first communication. The problem is that the singular feature value wears off over time, and what once seemed slightly interesting just becomes one of a series of singular differentiating attempts across competitive apps.
• Platforms: A single feature advantage doesn’t equate to a larger, more comprehensive platform, which is where most of the value is created and captured now in software.
• Example: Canva isn’t Canva because of one feature. It is Canva because its features are done exceptionally well inside a comprehensive design platform.

If you find yourself becoming too dependent on a single feature for most of your product’s differentiation and value, you should pause and reassess whether the product should exist, at least in its current form. A product and, therefore, a business built on top of a single feature for all the differentiation and value is a house of cards waiting to be toppled.

Why are we seeing more single-feature dependencies now? I think it’s because of AI, which is causing many product teams to become very myopic.

AI isn’t a single feature but can be or empower many features. While this is true, I see a lot of AI being incorporated into a product because it is fundamental to its overall value proposition and functionality but as an injection of a single feature with the same downfalls as a non-AI single-feature dependency. Using AI doesn’t take away the downside of a single feature just because it is AI. Single-feature dependency is an adverse risk irrespective of the technology behind the feature.

Any product that is a one-trick-feature pony is at risk of competitive copy, reduced customer value, and continuing to attempt to chase the one next thing. The next feature carousel is not a ride product teams want to be on.